After many years in development, Martin Scorsese is working on The Irishman, a star-studded adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt's non-fiction book about Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran.
Sheeran was a mob hitman and worked for Jimmy Hoffa, who once said to him, "I heard you paint houses," a metaphor for killing. But Sheeran also claimed to have killed Hoffa. Robert De Niro is playing Sheeran while Al Pacino will play Hoffa, and the pair are going to be in Paterson, New Jersey to shoot scenes. NorthJersey.com reports, "[O]ne of the vice presidents of the film company, Villa Roma Productions, was captivated by the city’s architecture when he watched the critically acclaimed Jim Jarmusch movie 'Paterson.'"
Marcia Sotorrio, Paterson's cultural affairs director, said, "He loved the old buildings," and The Irishman's location staff liked the city enough to commit to film there.
Local officials had been staying quiet about the filming, but word leaked out on Thursday. “I guess the cover is blown now,” said Bob Guarasci, executive director of the New Jersey Community Development Corp., whose headquarters is in the heart of the historic district.
Sotorrio said they movie’s producers want to keep information about the filming “hush hush.” She said the Paterson scenes show Pacino and DeNiro driving on some sort of “road trip” and the movie people want authentic backgrounds - not throngs of film fans stretching their necks for a glimpse of their idols.
Guarasci added, "I’m very excited about this. We’ve had governors and senators come to our building. Even a Nigerian queen. But never two movie stars."
The film was also shooting on the Lower East Side last month.
Other stars include Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale and Joe Pesci, who had been a holdout. When Casino was honored as a "Guy Hall of Fame Movie" in 2016, De Niro appeared with Pesci and said, "Casino had Sharon Stone, Jimmy Woods, and Don Rickles, and it was the last time that… Joe and I did a picture with Marty. But, hopefully that is gonna change, Joe... Marty and I are planning to get back together for a movie I think will be a future ‘Guy Hall of Fame’ entry, that is if Joe has any more f—s left in him. So far all he keeps saying is ‘Go f— yourself.'"
Netflix is reportedly paying $105 million for the global rights to The Irishman. And Paterson, Jarmusch's critically acclaimed film (96% fresh!), is pretty much as far removed from a gangster movie as possible: It's about a bus driver poet.
